Google joins FIDO to strengthen and replace passwords

Protecting your digital content and identity will soon be handled by more than just a simple password, as Google has just joined FIDO and their password authentication initiative. FIDO, the Fast IDentity Online Alliance has joined forces with Google to try and come up with a solution that could bypass passwords alltogether. Or at least strengthen the authentication systems.

Back in January we heard Google was preparing to delete passwords in favor of NFC solutions, and that is just one part of many being offered by FIDO. In the future we might be tapping NFC enabled rings on our hands to access parts of our smartphone, or even login to Gmail on our computers.

FIDO was founded by many companies like Lenovo, PayPal Validity and others, and Google’s just the latest (and biggest) to join the growing alliance. Sam Srinivas, the Product Management Director of Information Security at Google, stated that the company is looking forward to “continuing our current development work on strong, universal second-factor tokens” for FIDO. Which sounds like Google’s taking this pretty seriously.

Some of FIDO’s technology includes Biometric Verification (like facial unlock and fingerprint scanners), One time password systems that are triggered often, NFC chips which will be extremely secure but possibly a hassle, and things like TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and more. TPM employs a chip in a computer system, separate from the OS, with its own software, and is ideal for money transactions based on how secure it is. Then of course there is USB Token verification methods and much more.

These are just a few of the examples given by FIDO, and surely with Google also working on a new process we’ll see all types of interesting things. Maybe Google Glass can just scan your retina for clearance. Mission Impossible style. More details on the Google FIDO partnership can be found right here.